Systems and methods for signal communication with scalable, modular network nodes

ABSTRACT

A radio frequency (RF) aperture includes an interface board. An array of electrically conductive tapered projections have bases disposed on a front side of the interface printed circuit board and extend away from the front side of the interface printed circuit board. RF circuitry is disposed at the back side of the interface board and is electrically connected with the electrically conductive tapered projections.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/842,816 filed May 3, 2019 and titled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SIGNAL COMMUNICATION WITH SCALABLE, MODULAR NETWORK NODES”; and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/839,131 filed Apr. 26, 2019 and titled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SIGNAL COMMUNICATION WITH SCALABLE, MODULAR NETWORK NODES”; and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/839,125 filed Apr. 26, 2019 and titled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SIGNAL COMMUNICATION WITH SCALABLE, MODULAR NETWORK NODES”. U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/842,816 filed May 3, 2019 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/839,131 filed Apr. 26, 2019 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/839,125 filed Apr. 26, 2019 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The following relates to the radio frequency (RF) arts, RF transmitter arts, RF receiver arts, RF transceiver arts, broadband RF transmitter, receiver, and/or transceiver arts, RF communications arts, and related arts.

Steinbrecher, U.S. Pat. No. 7,420,522 titled “Electromagnetic Radiation Interface System and Method” discloses a broadband RF aperture as follows: “An electromagnetic radiation interface is provided that is suitable for use with radio wave frequencies. A surface is provided with a plurality of metallic conical bristles. A corresponding plurality of termination sections are provided so that each bristle is terminated with a termination section. The termination section may comprise an electrical resistance for capturing substantially all the electromagnetic wave energy received by each respective bristle to thereby prevent reflections from the surface of the interface. Each termination section may also comprise an analog to digital converter for converting the energy from each bristle to a digital word. The bristles may be mounted on a ground plane having a plurality of holes therethrough. A plurality of coaxial transmission lines may extend through the ground plane for interconnecting the plurality of bristles to the plurality of termination sections.”

Certain improvements are disclosed herein.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In accordance with some illustrative embodiments disclosed herein, a radio frequency (RF) aperture comprises: an interface board having a front side and a back side; an array of electrically conductive tapered projections having bases disposed on the front side of the interface board and extending away from the front side of the interface board, wherein the electrically conductive tapered projections are hollow and one or more electronic components are disposed inside the hollow electrically conductive tapered projections; and RF circuitry disposed at the back side of the interface board and electrically connected with the array of electrically conductive tapered projections on the front side of the interface board.

In accordance with some illustrative embodiments disclosed herein, an RF aperture comprises: an interface board having a front side and a back side; an array of electrically conductive tapered projections having bases disposed on the front side of the interface board and extending away from the front side of the interface board; and RF circuitry disposed at the back side of the interface board and electrically connected with the array of electrically conductive tapered projections on the front side of the interface board. The electrically conductive tapered projections of the array of electrically conductive tapered projections include a first set of electrically conductive tapered projections of equal size arranged in a rectilinear array and a second set of electrically conductive tapered projections disposed between the electrically conductive tapered projections of the first set of electrically conductive tapered projections.

In accordance with some illustrative embodiments disclosed herein, an RF aperture comprises: an interface board having a front side and a back side; an array of electrically conductive tapered projections having bases disposed on the front side of the interface board and extending away from the front side of the interface board; dielectric filler disposed between the electrically conductive tapered projections; and RF circuitry disposed at the back side of the interface board and electrically connected with the array of electrically conductive tapered projections on the front side of the interface board.

In accordance with some illustrative embodiments disclosed herein, an RF aperture comprises: an interface board having a front side and a back side; an array of faceted electrically conductive tapered projections having bases disposed on the front side of the interface board and extending away from the front side of the interface board; and RF circuitry disposed at the back side of the interface board and electrically connected with aperture pixels comprising differential RF receive and/or transmit elements defined by neighboring facets of neighboring pairs of faceted electrically conductive tapered projections.

In accordance with some illustrative embodiments disclosed herein, an RF aperture comprises: an interface board having a front side and a back side; an array of solid electrically conductive tapered projections having bases disposed on the front side of the interface board and extending away from the front side of the interface board with the bases having threaded openings; threaded fasteners passing through openings in the interface board and threaded into the threaded openings of the bases of the solid electrically conductive tapered projections to secure the solid electrically conductive tapered projections to the interface board; and RF circuitry disposed at the back side of the interface board and electrically connected with aperture pixels comprising differential RF receive and/or transmit elements defined by neighboring pairs of the solid electrically conductive tapered projections.

In accordance with some illustrative embodiments disclosed herein, an RF aperture comprises: an interface board having a front side and a back side; an array of hollow electrically conductive tapered projections having bases disposed on the front side of the interface board and extending away from the front side of the interface board, the hollow electrically conductive tapered projections having central cylinder supports disposed inside the hollow projections, the central cylinder supports having threaded openings; threaded fasteners passing through openings in the interface board and threaded into the threaded openings of the central cylinder supports of the hollow electrically conductive tapered projections to secure the hollow electrically conductive tapered projections to the interface board; and RF circuitry disposed at the back side of the interface board and electrically connected with aperture pixels comprising differential RF receive and/or transmit elements defined by neighboring pairs of the hollow electrically conductive tapered projections.

In accordance with some illustrative embodiments disclosed herein, an RF aperture comprises: an interface board having a front side and a back side; an array of electrically conductive tapered projections having bases disposed on the front side of the interface board and extending away from the front side of the interface board, the electrically conductive tapered projections having central cylinder supports disposed inside the hollow projections; and RF circuitry disposed at the back side of the interface board and electrically connected with aperture pixels comprising differential RF receive and/or transmit elements defined by neighboring pairs of the electrically conductive tapered projections. Each electrically conductive tapered projection includes: a dielectric structure having tapered receptacles, and electrically conductive tapered plates mating into the tapered receptacles of the dielectric structure, wherein the electrically conductive tapered plates define the of the electrically conductive tapered projection.

In accordance with some illustrative embodiments disclosed herein, an RF aperture comprises: an interface board having a front side and a back side; an array of electrically conductive tapered projections having bases disposed on the front side of the interface board and extending away from the front side of the interface board, the electrically conductive tapered projections having central cylinder supports disposed inside the hollow projections; RF circuitry disposed at the back side of the interface board and electrically connected with aperture pixels comprising differential RF receive and/or transmit elements defined by neighboring pairs of the electrically conductive tapered projections; and a radome having tapered projection-shaped recesses. The electrically conductive tapered projections are disposed in the tapered projection-shaped recesses of the radome, and may comprise sheet metal punched into the tapered projection-shaped recesses.

In accordance with some illustrative embodiments disclosed herein, an RF aperture comprises:

In accordance with some illustrative embodiments disclosed herein, an RF aperture configured to operate at an RF wavelength comprises: an interface board having a front side and a back side; an array of electrically conductive tapered projections having bases disposed on the front side of the interface board and extending away from the front side of the interface board; RF circuitry disposed at the back side of the interface board and electrically connected with aperture pixels comprising differential RF receive and/or transmit elements defined by neighboring pairs of the electrically conductive tapered projections; and standoffs having a height greater than the RF wavelength, wherein the faceted electrically conductive tapered projections are mounted on respective standoffs.

In accordance with some illustrative embodiments disclosed herein, an RF aperture comprises: an interface board having a front side and a back side, the interface board being a dielectric board or a printed circuit board (PCB) without a ground plane; an array of electrically conductive tapered projections having bases disposed on the front side of the interface board and extending away from the front side of the interface board; and RF circuitry disposed at the back side of the interface board and electrically connected with aperture pixels comprising differential RF receive and/or transmit elements defined by neighboring pairs of the electrically conductive tapered projections. The RF circuitry comprises PCBs with ground planes oriented perpendicularly to the interface board, and RF components mounted on the perpendicular PCBs.

In accordance with some illustrative embodiments disclosed herein, an RF aperture comprises:

In accordance with some illustrative embodiments disclosed herein, an RF aperture comprises:

In accordance with some illustrative embodiments disclosed herein, an RF aperture comprises:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Any quantitative dimensions shown in the drawing are to be understood as non-limiting illustrative examples. Unless otherwise indicated, the drawings are not to scale; if any aspect of the drawings is indicated as being to scale, the illustrated scale is to be understood as non-limiting illustrative example.

FIGS. 1 and 2 diagrammatically illustrate front and side-sectional views, respectively, of an illustrative RF aperture implemented as a differential segmented aperture (DSA).

FIG. 3 diagrammatically shows a block diagram of a single QUAD subassembly of the DSA of FIGS. 1-4.

FIG. 4 diagrammatically illustrates a front view of the interface printed circuit board (i-PCB) of the DSA of FIGS. 1-3 including vias and mounting holes and diagrammatically indicated locations of baluns and resistor pads.

FIG. 5 diagrammatically illustrates a rear view of the enclosure of the DSA of FIGS. 1-4 including diagrammatically indicated RF connections, control, and power connectors.

FIG. 6 diagrammatically illustrates a side sectional view of an embodiment of the electrically conductive tapered projections, along with a diagrammatic representation of the connection of the balanced port of a chip balun between two adjacent electrically conductive tapered projections.

FIGS. 7-10 diagrammatically illustrate additional embodiments of the electrically conductive tapered projections.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show embodiments in which the electrically conductive tapered projections of the RF aperture are hollow and in which one or more electronic components are disposed inside the hollow electrically conductive tapered projections.

FIG. 13 diagrammatically illustrates an exploded view of another illustrative RF aperture assembly.

FIGS. 14-17 diagrammatically show some illustrative layouts of electrically conductive tapered projections over the area of the RF aperture.

FIGS. 18-24 show side sectional view of RF aperture embodiments employing dielectric filling material disposed between neighboring electrically conductive tapered projections to tune the RF capture performance for transmit and/or receive operations.

FIG. 25 shows another illustrative RF aperture assembly.

FIG. 26 shows an RF aperture comprising electrically conductive tapered projections disposed on a curved (e.g. radial) surface.

FIG. 27 diagrammatically shows a network employing DSAs.

FIG. 28 diagrammatically shows a processing node suitable employed in conjunction with the embodiment of FIG. 25.

FIGS. 29-36 illustrate embodiments of electrically conductive tapered projections which are solid projections.

FIGS. 37-39 illustrate some alternative faceted electrically conductive tapered projection geometries.

FIGS. 40-41 illustrate an embodiment of an electrically conductive tapered projection which is hollow.

FIGS. 42-46 illustrate an embodiment of an electrically conductive tapered projection which includes a dielectric structure and tapered plates.

FIGS. 47-49 illustrate mounting of electrically conductive tapered projections of FIGS. 42-46 on an interface board.

FIGS. 50-54 illustrate embodiments of electrically conductive tapered projections constructed by folding a cut-out of sheet metal.

FIG. 55 illustrates an embodiment of electrically conductive tapered projections constructed by punching sheet metal into a radome defining tapered projection forms.

FIG. 56 illustrates potential RF interference in a DSA due to an interface board with a ground plane.

FIG. 57 illustrates an embodiment employing standoffs to mitigate the potential RF interference described with reference to FIG. 56.

FIGS. 58-63 illustrate embodiments employing RF circuitry comprising perpendicular printed circuit boards (PCBs) to mitigate the potential RF interference described with reference to FIG. 56.

FIG. 64 illustrates an exploded view of a DSA including a radome and perpendicular PCBs as described with reference to FIGS. 58-63.

FIG. 65 illustrates the five-sided housing or enclosure of the DSA embodiment of FIG. 64.

FIGS. 66-81 illustrate various embodiments of RF circuitry suitably used with DSA embodiments disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, front and side-sectional views are shown, respectively, of an illustrative radio frequency (RF) aperture, including an interface printed circuit board (i-PCB) 10 having a front side 12 and a back side 14, and an array of electrically conductive tapered projections 20 having bases 22 disposed on the front side 12 of the i-PCB 10 and extending away from the front side 12 of the i-PCB 10. The illustrative i-PCB 10 is indicated in FIG. 1 as having dimensions 5-inch by 5-inch—this is merely a non-limiting illustrative example of a compact RF aperture. FIG. 1 shows the front view of the RF aperture, with an inset in the upper left showing a perspective view of one electrically conductive tapered projection 20. This illustrative embodiment of the electrically conductive tapered projection 20 has a square cross-section with a larger square base 22 and an apex which does not extend to a perfect tip but rather terminates at a flattened apex 24 (in other words, the electrically conductive tapered projection 20 of the inset has a frustoconical shape). This is merely an illustrative example, and more generally the electrically conductive tapered projections 20 can have any type of cross-section (e.g. square as in the inset, or circular, or hexagonal, or octagonal, or so forth). The apex 24 can be flat, as in the example of the inset, or can come to a sharp point, or can be rounded or have some other apex geometry. The rate of tapering as a function of height (i.e. distance “above” the base 22, with the apex 24 being at the maximum “height”) can be constant, as in the example of the inset, or the rate of tapering can be variable with height, e.g. the rate of tapering can increase with increasing height so as to form a projection with a rounded peak, or can be decreasing with increasing height so as to form a projection with a more pointed tip. Similarly, as best seen in FIG. 1, the illustrative array of the electrically conductive tapered projections 20 is a rectilinear array with regular rows and orthogonal regular columns; however, the array may have other symmetry, e.g. a hexagonal symmetry, octagonal symmetry, or so forth. In the illustrative example of the inset, the square base 22 and square apex 24 lead to the electrically conductive tapered projection 20 having four flat slanted sidewalls 26; however, other sidewall shapes are contemplated, e.g. if the base and apex are circular (or the base is circular and the apex comes to a point) then the sidewall will be a slanted or tapering cylinder; for a hexagonal base and a hexagonal or pointed apex there will be six slanted sidewalls, and so forth.

With continuing reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 and with further reference to FIG. 3, the RF aperture further comprises RF circuitry, which in the illustrative embodiment includes chip baluns 30 mounted on the back side 14 of the i-PCB 10. Each chip balun 30 has a balanced port PB (see FIGS. 3 and 6) electrically connected with two neighboring electrically conductive tapered projections of the array of electrically conductive tapered projections via electrical feedthroughs 32 passing through the i-PCB 10. Each chip balun 30 further has an unbalanced port P_(U) (see FIGS. 3 and 6) connecting with the remainder of the RF circuitry. The illustrative RF circuitry further includes RF power splitter/combiners 40 for combining the outputs from the unbalanced ports P_(U) of the chip baluns 30. As seen in FIG. 3, the illustrative electrical configuration of the RF circuitry employs first level 1×2 RF power splitter/combiners 40 ₁ that combine pairs of unbalanced ports P_(U), and second level 1×2 RF power splitter/combiners 40 ₂ that combine outputs of pairs of the first level RF power splitter/combiners 40 ₁. This is merely an illustrative approach, and other configurations are contemplated, such as using 1×3 (which combine three lines), 1×4 (combining four lines), or higher-combining RF power splitter/combiners, or various combinations thereof. The illustrative RF circuitry further includes a signal conditioning circuit 42 interposed between each unbalanced port P_(U) of the chip baluns 30 and the first level 1×2 power splitter 40 ₁. The signal conditioning circuit 42 connected with each unbalanced port includes: an RF transmit amplifier T; an RF receive amplifier R; and RF switching circuitry including switches RFS configured to switch between a transmit mode operatively connecting the RF transmit amplifier T with the unbalanced port and a receive mode operatively connecting the RF receive amplifier R with the unbalanced port.

With continuing reference to FIGS. 1-3 and with further reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, a compact design is achieved (e.g., depth of 3-inches in the non-limiting illustrative example of FIG. 3) in part by employing one or more printed circuit boards (PCBs) including at least the i-PCB 10. In the illustrative example shown in FIG. 3, the chip baluns 30 are mounted on the back side 14 of the i-PCB 10. Optionally, the other electronic components may also be mounted on the back side of the i-PCB 10 on whose front side 12 the array of electrically conductive tapered projections 20 are disposed. However, there may be insufficient real estate on the i-PCB 10 to mount all the electronics of the RF circuitry. In the illustrative embodiment, this is handled by providing a second printed circuit board 50 which is disposed parallel with the i-PCB 10 and faces the back side 14 of the i-PCB 10. Said another way, the second printed circuit board 50 is disposed on the (back) side 14 of the i-PCB 10 opposite from the (front) side 12 of the i-PCB 10 on which the electrically conductive tapered projections 20 are disposed. The RF circuitry comprises electronic components mounted on the second printed circuit board 50, which may also be referred to herein as a signal conditioning PCB or SC-PCB 50, and additionally or alternatively comprises electronic components mounted on the i-PCB 10 (typically on the back side 14 of the i-PCB, although it is also contemplated (not shown) to mount components of the RF circuitry on the front side of the i-PCB in field space between the electrically conductive tapered projections 20. If the SC-PCB 50 is provided, as shown in FIG. 2 it is suitably secured in parallel with the i-PCB 10 by standoffs 54, and single-ended feedthroughs 52 are provided to electrically interconnect the i-PCB 10 and the SC-PCB 50 (see FIG. 3). If the RF circuitry is unable to fit onto the real estate of two PCBs 10, 50, a third (and fourth, and more, as needed) PCB may be added (not shown) to accommodate the components of the RF circuitry.

FIG. 4 shows a front view of the i-PCB 10 including vias and mounting holes and diagrammatically indicated locations of baluns 30 and resistor pads as indicated in the legend shown in FIG. 4. (The resistors are used to terminate the unused side of the pyramids to help lower radar cross section).

With reference to FIG. 2 and with further reference to FIG. 5, the illustrative RF aperture has an enclosure 58 which in the illustrative example is secured at its periphery with the periphery of the i-PCB 10 so as to enclose the RF circuitry. This is merely one illustrative arrangement, and other designs are contemplated, e.g. both PCBs 10, 50 may be disposed inside an enclosure (although such an enclosure should not comprise RF shielding extending forward so as to occlude the area of the RF aperture). FIG. 5 diagrammatically illustrates a rear view of the enclosure 58 of the RF aperture, showing diagrammatically indicated RF connectors (or ports) 60 (also shown or indicated in FIGS. 2 and 3), control electronics 62 (for example, illustrative phased array beam steering electronics 63 shown by way of non-limiting illustration; these electronics 62, 63 may be mounted on the exterior of the enclosure 58 and/or may be disposed inside the enclosure 58 providing beneficial RF shielding), and a power connector 64 for providing power for operating the active components of the RF circuitry (e.g. operating power for the active RF transmit amplifiers T and the active RF receive amplifiers R, and the switches RFS). The particular arrangement of the various components 60, 62, 63, 64 over the area of the back side of the enclosure can vary widely from that shown in FIG. 5, and moreover, these components may be located elsewhere, e.g. the RF connectors 60 could alternatively be located at an edge of the RF aperture or so forth. It will also be appreciated that the RF aperture could be constructed integrally with some other component or system—for example, if the RF aperture is used as the RF transmit and/or receive element of a mobile ground station, a maritime radio, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or so forth, in which case the enclosure 58 might be replaced by having the RF aperture built into a housing of the mobile ground station, maritime radio, UAV fuselage, or so forth. In such cases, the RF connectors 60 might also be replaced by hard-wired connections to the mobile ground station, maritime radio, UAV electronics, or so forth.

With particular reference to FIG. 3, an illustrative electrical configuration for the illustrative RF circuitry is shown. In this non-limiting illustrative example, the array of electrically conductive tapered projections 20 is assumed to be a 5×5 array of electrically conductive tapered projections 20, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. The balanced ports PB of the chip baluns 30 connect adjacent (i.e. neighboring) pairs of electrically conductive tapered projections 20 of the array so as to receive the differential RF signal between the two adjacent electrically conductive tapered projections 20 (in receive mode; or, alternatively, to apply a differential RF signal between the two adjacent electrically conductive tapered projections 20 in transmit mode). As detailed in Steinbrecher, U.S. Pat. No. 7,420,522 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, the tapering of the electrically conductive tapered projections 20 presents a separation between the two electrically conductive tapered projections 20 that varies with the “height”, i.e. with distance “above” the base 22 of the electrically conductive tapered projections 20. This provides broadband RF capture since a range of RF wavelengths can be captured corresponding to the range of separations between the adjacent electrically conductive tapered projections 20 introduced by the tapering. The RF aperture is thus a differential segmented aperture (DSA), and has differential RF receive (or RF transmit) elements corresponding to the adjacent pairs of electrically conductive tapered projections 20. These differential RF receive (or transmit) elements are referred to herein as aperture pixels. For the illustrative rectilinear 5×5 array of adjacent electrically conductive tapered projections 20, this means there are 4 aperture pixels along each row (or column) of 5 electrically conductive tapered projections 20. More generally, for a rectilinear array of projections having a row (or column) of N electrically conductive tapered projections 20, there will be a corresponding N−1 pixels along the row (or column). FIG. 3 shows a QUAD subassembly, which is an interconnection of a row (or column) of four pixels. As there are four rows, and four columns, this leads to 4×4 or 16 such QUAD subassemblies. The resistor pads are used as terminations for the unused edges of the perimeter pyramids to prevent unnecessary reflections. Without the resistors mounted via the resistor pads, those surfaces would be left floating and could re-radiate incident RF energy, causing an enhanced radar cross section.

In the illustrative embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the second level 1×2 RF power splitter/combiner 40 ₂ of each QUAD subassembly connects with an RF connector 60 at the backside of the enclosure 58. Hence, as seen in FIG. 5, there are eight RF connectors for the eight QUAD subassemblies, denoted in FIGS. 4 and 5 as the row QUAD subassemblies N1, N2, N3, N4 and the column QUAD subassemblies M1, M2, M3, M4. The Gnd(N) row and the Gnd(M) column are circuit grounds to allow a common path for current flow from the captured RF energy along the perimeter sides of the pyramids. The use of the QUAD subassemblies permits a high level of flexibility in RF coupling to the RF aperture. For example, the illustrative phased array beam steering electronics 63 may be implemented by introducing appropriate phase shifts ϕ_(N), N=1, . . . , 4 for the row QUAD subassemblies N1, N2, N3, N4 and phase shifts ϕ_(M), M=1, . . . , 4 for the column QUAD subassemblies M1, M2, M3, M4 to steer the transmitted RF signal beam in a desired direction, or to orient the RF aperture to receive an RF signal beam from a desired direction (transmit or receive being controlled by the settings of the switches RFS of the signal conditioning circuits 42). Other applications that may be implemented by the RF aperture include: simultaneous “Transmit/Receive, dual circular polarization modes”, and “Scalability” by physically locating multiple DSAs in close physical proximity giving the combined effect of increased aperture size. In an alternative embodiment diagrammatically shown in FIG. 3, the RF connectors 60 may be replaced by analog-to-digital (A/D) converters 66 and digital connectors 68 via which digitized signals are output. More generally, the ND conversion may be inserted anywhere in the RF chain, for example ND converters could be placed at the outputs of the signal conditioning circuits 42 and the analog first and second level RF power splitter/combiners 40 ₁, 40 ₂ then replaced by digital signal processing (DSP) circuitry.

The described electronics employing PCBs 10, 50, chip baluns 30, and active signal conditioning components (e.g. active transmit amplifiers T and receive amplifiers R) advantageously enables the RF aperture to be made compact and lightweight. As described next, embodiments of the electrically conductive tapered projections 20 further facilitate providing a compact and lightweight broadband RF aperture.

FIG. 6 shows a side sectional view of one illustrative embodiment in which each electrically conductive tapered projection 20 is fabricated as a dielectric tapered projection 70 with an electrically conductive layer 72 disposed on a surface of the dielectric tapered projection 70. The dielectric tapered projections may, for example, be made of an electrically insulating plastic or ceramic material, such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polycarbonate, or so forth, and may be manufactured by injection molding, three-dimensional (3D) printing, or other suitable techniques. The electrically conductive layer 72 may be any suitable electrically conductive material such as copper, a copper alloy, silver, a silver alloy, gold, a gold alloy, aluminum, an aluminum alloy, or so forth, or may include a layered stack of different electrically conductive materials, and may be coated onto the dielectric tapered projection 70 by vacuum evaporation, RF sputtering, or any other vacuum deposition technique. FIG. 6 shows an example in which solder points 74 are used to electrically connect the electrically conductive layer 72 of each dielectric tapered projection 20 with its corresponding electrical feedthrough 32 passing through the i-PCB 10. FIG. 6 also shows the illustrative connection of the balanced port PB of one chip balun 30 between two adjacent electrically conductive tapered projections 20 via solder points 76.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show an exploded side-sectional view and a perspective view, respectively, of an embodiment in which the dielectric tapered projections 70 are integrally included in a dielectric plate 80. The electrically conductive layer 72 coats each dielectric tapered projection 70 but has isolation gaps 82 that provide galvanic isolation between the neighboring dielectric tapered projections 20. The isolation gaps 82 can be formed after coating the electrically conductive layer 72 by, after the coating, etching the coating away from the plate 80 between the electrically conductive tapered projections 20 to galvanically isolate the electrically conductive tapered projections from one another. Alternatively, the isolation gaps 82 can be defined before the coating by, before the coating, depositing a mask material (not shown) on the plate 80 between the electrically conductive tapered projections 20 so that the coating does not coat the plate in the isolation gaps 82 between the electrically conductive tapered projections whereby the electrically conductive tapered projections are galvanically isolated from one another. As seen in the perspective view of FIG. 8, the result is that the dielectric plate 80 covers (and therefore occludes) the surface of the i-PCB 10, with the electrically conductive tapered projections 20 extending away from the dielectric plate 80.

With particular reference to FIG. 7, in one approach for the electrical interconnection, through-holes 82 pass through the illustrative plate 80 and the underlying i-PCB 10, and rivets, screws, or other electrically conductive fasteners 32′ pass through the through-holes 82 (note that FIG. 7 is an exploded view) and when thusly installed form the electrical feedthroughs 32′ passing through the i-PCB 10. (Note, the perspective view of FIG. 8 is simplified, and does not depict the fasteners 32′). The use of the dielectric plate 80 with integral dielectric tapered projections 70 and the combined fastener/feedthroughs 32′ advantageously allows the electrically conductive tapered projections 20 to be installed with precise positioning and without soldering.

In the embodiments of FIGS. 6-8, the electrically conductive coating 72 is disposed on the outer surfaces of the dielectric tapered projections 70. In this case, the dielectric tapered projections 70 may be either hollow or solid.

With reference to FIGS. 9 and 10, as the dielectric material is substantially transparent to the RF radiation, the electrically conductive coating 72 may instead be coated on inner surfaces of the (hollow) dielectric tapered projections 70. FIG. 9 shows a side sectional view of such an embodiment, while FIG. 10 shows a perspective view. The embodiment of FIGS. 9 and 10 again employs a dielectric plate 80 including the dielectric tapered projections 70. As seen in FIG. 10, by coating the electrically conductive coatings 72 on the inner surfaces of the hollow dielectric tapered projections 70, this results in the electrically conductive coating 72 being protected from contact from the outside by the dielectric plate 80 including the integral dielectric tapered projections 70. This can be useful in environments in which weathering may be a problem.

It is to be appreciated that the various disclosed aspects are illustrative examples, and that the disclosed features may be variously combined or omitted in specific embodiments. For example, one of the illustrative examples of the electrically conductive tapered projections 20 or a variant thereof may be employed without the QUAD subassembly circuitry configuration of FIGS. 2-5. Conversely the QUAD subassembly circuitry configuration of FIGS. 2-5 or a variant thereof may be employed without the dielectric/coating configuration for the electrically conductive tapered projections 20. Likewise, the chip baluns 30 may or may not be used in a specific embodiment; and/or so forth.

With reference to FIGS. 11 and 12, further embodiments of the multiple sensor elements/pyramids 20 of the DSA 102 (e.g., scalable, modular board) are described. The sensor elements/pyramids can be formed on, for example, the front side 12 of the circuit board 10 as an array and function as a radiation interface. The sensor elements/pyramids 20 of FIGS. 11 and 12 each include multiple electrically conductive plates 90 (FIG. 12) that together form the pyramid and/or the sensor elements/pyramids can each be formed of a single plate 91 (FIG. 11) that, for example, wraps in a conical fashion. In some embodiments, each sensor element/pyramid 20 is hollow, that is, includes a void 92. The void 92 may be formed by an inner portion of either the multiple plates 90 and/or single conical plate 91. This occurs, for example, when the sensor element/pyramid 20 is supported from an outside portion, creating the void 92 in the center. In one embodiment, the multiple plates 90 of the sensor element/pyramid can come close to each other, but not touch. In other words, the conductive plates of the sensor element/pyramid can form a gap 94 (FIG. 12). Similarly, the single conical plate 91 can have an upper opening or gap 95. The gap 94, 95 can exist between the plates and/or between the plates and a support of fixture that contains or holds the plates of the sensor elements/pyramids of the DSA. In some embodiments, the sensor elements/pyramids 20 can be formed of a solid material. The surface of the plate(s) 90, 91 that form the sensor element/pyramid can be used (e.g., the skin depth) for conductivity. In other words, the surface of the sensor elements/pyramids 20 can be used to transfer current from, for example, a wavelength or RF signal, causing the resistance of the sensor elements/pyramids to increase resultant from the current riding the surface of the sensor elements/pyramids (i.e., attenuation). The plate(s) 90, 91 can be formed of any highly electrically conductive material. In some embodiments, the plate(s) 90, 91 of the sensor elements/pyramids may be formed of something other than an electrically conductive material, e.g. the electrically conductive material can be, for example, printed or wrapped onto dielectric plates as shown in FIGS. 6-10. For example, conductive material can be spray-coated onto the plates that form the sensor elements/pyramids. The thickness of the coating can be varied to achieve desired skin depths. The embodiments of FIGS. 11 and 12 further include a conductor or electronic component 96 on the front side 12 of the circuit board 10. The embodiment of FIG. 12 further includes a bend 97 defined at the intersection of the lower end of the plates 90 and the conductor or electronic component 96.

With continuing reference to FIGS. 11 and 12, in some embodiments it is contemplated to leverage the voids 92 defined by the hollow electrically conductive tapered projections 20 to accommodate one or more electronic components 100 disposed on the front side 12 of the printed circuit board 10. Electrical vias, i.e. feedthroughs 102 passing through the i-PCB 10 provide electrical communication between the front-side electronics 100 and electronics/electrical circuitry disposed on the backside of the i-PCB 10 and/or the single-ended feedthroughs 52 electrically interconnecting the i-PCB 10 and the SC-PCB 50 (see FIG. 3). The embodiment of FIG. 12 further includes an optional recess or hole 104 in the front surface 12 of the i-PCB 10 that receives the electronic component(s) 100. Other electronic component mounting arrangements are also/alternatively contemplated, e.g. sockets for integrated circuits (ICs) or so forth. Advantageously, the hollow electrically conductive tapered projections 20 serve as Faraday cages protecting the interior electronic component(s) 100 from RF interference. Placing electronics 100 inside the hollow electrically conductive tapered projections 20 also provides for a more compact design (for example possibly providing sufficient real estate to eliminate the need for the second PCB 50 shown in FIG. 3).

With reference to FIG. 13, in another illustrative RF aperture embodiment, a radio frequency (RF) transparent material 110 covers the sensor elements/pyramids (that is, the electrically conductive tapered projections 20 of other embodiments described herein). The RF transparent material 110 serves as a support/fixture for containing/holding plates 112 of the elements/pyramids of the DSA captured in the cover. Plates 112 can be captured in the cover 110 using or with the assistance of an adhesive 114. In some embodiments, a circuit board can be configured to be attached to the plate(s) (e.g. the i-PCB 10). The circuit board can receive the foot or base of the plate and the plate can be optionally electrically attached (e.g., soldered) to the circuit board. In an alternative embodiment, the conductive plates 112 can be formed of printed circuit boards. As noted above, together the printed circuit boards, forming the conductive plates, can create or include a void (e.g. voids 92 of the embodiments of FIGS. 11 and 12). In some embodiments, electronic components 110 (see FIGS. 11 and 12) of the DSA or sensor elements/pyramids can be housed within the void and combined, for example, in a differential mode. Alternatively, the electronic components could be directly attached to the DSA board via screws 116 or holes 118, sensor elements/pyramids, to each other or to something else. In some embodiments, the RF transparent material cover 110 includes an optional filler 120 that is filled with a variable dielectric.

With reference to FIGS. 14-17, the DSA (e.g., scalable, modular board) can include multiple sensor elements/pyramids 20 formed of conductive plates. FIG. 14 shows a top view of an example in which the electrically conductive tapered projections 20 are of equal size and distributed over the i-PCB 10 as a rectilinear array. FIGS. 15 and 16 show top and side views, respectively, of an example in which electrically conductive tapered projections 20 of equal size are distributed over the i-PCB 10 as a rectilinear array, and smaller-sized electrically conductive tapered projections 20 s are interspersed in the space between the rectilinear array. FIG. 17 shows an example in which the electrically conductive tapered projections 20 are of equal size but are distributed over the i-PCB 10 as other than a rectilinear array, e.g. with unequal spacings between neighboring electrically conductive tapered projections 20. The sensor elements/pyramids 20, 20 s can be formed on, for example, the i-PCB 10 as an array and function as a radiation interface. In some embodiments, the signal capture area of the sensor elements/pyramids 20 can be uniformly distributed over the area of the array or radiation interface. This may be accomplished, for example, by locating a center point of the sensor elements/pyramids 20 at equal distance relative to each other (FIG. 14). In an alternative embodiment, shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, the center points of a first set of sensor elements/pyramids 20 with a first height H1 (FIG. 16) can be located at an equal distance relative to each other to uniformly distribute the signal capture area over the area of the array or radiation interface and second sets of sensor elements/pyramids 20 s with a second (or more different) heights H2, H3 that vary can be located at random or to achieve desired propagation or signal capture in the signal capture area defined by the first set of sensor elements/pyramids 20. In other words, the second sets of sensor elements/pyramids 20 s do not have to be evenly spaced from each other. In yet another embodiment, shown in FIG. 17, the (first) set of sensor elements/pyramids 20 with a first height H1 can be located at random distances relative to each other to achieve a desired propagation or signal capture. The (first) set of sensor elements/pyramids 20 with a first height H1 can also be located to achieve a desired signal capture area. In an alternative embodiment (not shown), the first set of sensor elements/pyramids can include a first height H1 that varies to achieve a desired propagation or signal capture in the signal capture area. The first set of sensor elements/pyramids, organized at random or to achieve a desired propagation or signal capture in the signal capture area, can also be interspersed with the second sets of sensor elements/pyramids as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16.

With reference to FIGS. 18-20, in some embodiments the DSA (e.g., scalable, modular board) can include multiple sensor elements/pyramids 20 formed of conductive plates (or otherwise formed, e.g. using metallic coatings on dielectric projections as described in other embodiments herein). In some embodiments, the multiple sensor elements/pyramids 20 are each formed of a single plate wrapped to create a conical-shaped sensor element/pyramid, multiple conductive plates configured to form a void (FIGS. 18 and 20), or can be formed as a solid (FIG. 19). As noted above, in alternative embodiments, electronic components of the DSA or sensor elements/pyramids can be housed within the void of FIGS. 18 and 20 and combined, for example, in a differential mode. Alternatively, the electronic components could be directly attached to the DSA board, sensor elements/pyramids, to each other or to something else. In some embodiments, shown in FIGS. 18-20, dielectric material can surround or be otherwise configured to form to the sensor elements/pyramids 20 of the DSA. In other words, the dielectric material can fill in gaps created between the sensor elements/pyramids. The dielectric material can form distinct layers, as in the embodiments of FIGS. 18-20. The layers can be formed of different materials each with different permittivity values. Alternatively, the layers can be formed of a same material and the permittivity of the single material can be changed. For example, as shown in FIG. 20, air holes or other dielectric voids may be formed in the dielectric material (e.g., the air spaces can be fractionalized). The density of the air holes or other dielectric voids determines the overall dielectric constant. In one embodiment, shown in FIG. 20, lots of air holes or other dielectric voids are formed in the upper most layer of the dielectric material, which results in more of a match of free space to dielectric material in the upper most layer. The second most layer has reduced air holes or other dielectric voids, decreasing the ratio of air holes or dielectric voids to dielectric material. For each layer of dielectric material, the ratio of air holes or dielectric voids to dielectric material is decreased (i.e., dielectric lensing). The dielectric material and ratio of air holes or dielectric voids to dielectric material can be chosen based on a desired propagation of RF signals through the dielectric material inlaid between the sensor elements/pyramids of the DSA. As the signal or wavelength hits the dielectric material, the propagation changes. In other words, the wavelength of the incoming signal is shortened. For example, when measuring the voltage differential, there is an increased voltage differential if/when the wavelength shortens.

With reference to FIGS. 21-23, in some embodiments, dielectric material can surround or be otherwise configured to form to the sensor elements/pyramids 20 of the DSA. In other words, the dielectric material can fill in gaps created between the sensor elements/pyramids. In the illustrative embodiments of FIGS. 21-23, the dielectric material is formed of single or multiple material that, together, form a graded index (e.g., no discontinuities). In other words, there is a graded index of dielectric material. As shown in FIG. 23, air holes or other dielectric voids can be formed in the graded index of dielectric material. The density of air holes or other dielectric voids to the graded index of dielectric material can change based on, for example, a desired signal propagation through the graded index of dielectric material.

With reference to FIG. 24, an enlarged view of the graded delectric of the embodiment of FIG. 23 is shown with additional descriptive notation. As shown in FIG. 24, the volumetric fraction of air holes or other dielectric voids to the dielectric material results in an overall dielectric constant. By changing the permeability of the graded index of dielectric material or changing the dielectric constant of the graded index of dielectric material filled in between the gaps of the sensor elements/pyramids 20 of the DSA, as the signal or wavelength hits the graded index of dielectric material the propagation changes. For example, as shown in FIG. 24, the signals may propagate in a first dielectric. At an upper most portion of the graded index of dielectric material, the dielectric material and the volumetric fraction of air holes or other dielectric voids have a same dielectric constant (e.g., based on the volumetric fraction of the material that has the openings). As the number or volume of air holes or other dielectric voids to dielectric material decreases, the dielectric constant decreases. Each dielectric has a real part and a complex part. In the complex part, a loss tangent, which also is a dissipation factor, exists. This causes attenuation. The goal is to limit attenuation by minimizing the complex part on the dielectric material. This is how the dielectric materials or composite materials are selected.

In some embodiments, the sensor elements/pyramids of the DSA can be formed of the dielectric materials and include conductive plates configured to support the dielectric material. Holes or other dielectric voids can be formed in the dielectric material supported by the conductive plates. The holes or other dielectric voids can be used to vary the effective dielectric constant. Resistivity determines the loss.

Although FIGS. 18-24 show the dielectric material ending before the peak of the sensor elements/pyramids 20 of the DSA, the dielectric material could go beyond the peaks of the sensor elements/pyramids of the DSA and/or completely encapsulate the sensor elements/pyramids of the DSA.

In some embodiments, the RF aperture (e.g. DSA) is a modular plate. Multiple DSAs can be selectively put together to form larger DSAs.

In further variants, the DSAs could be acoustic based DSAs or magnetic based DSAs. Magnetic based DSAs would allow efficient magnetic field capture as low as tens of Hertz frequencies. This would potentially minimize propagation. Acoustic would allow the DSA to be deployed on submarines and to operate under the water.

With reference to FIG. 25, the DSA (e.g., scalable, modular board) can include multiple sensor elements/pyramids 20 formed of conductive plates (or otherwise formed as described in various embodiments herein). In one embodiment, a base 10 of the DSA can be formed of a printed circuit board (e.g., the described i-PCB) configured to support the sensor elements/pyramids 20. The circuit board can include multiple openings where the baluns (i.e., the sensor elements/pyramids 20) are loaded. The circuit board, with openings, creates a form factor that can be slidably received on, for example, a 3-D printed form factor (e.g., blocks, etc.). In other words, the circuit board together with the baluns can form a “smart board” configured to store the intelligence (e.g., using a processing node 900, see FIG. 28) of the DSA. The smart board can be, for example, injection molded. This smart board can be slidably received on any form factor. The smart board can be efficiently manufactured.

As shown in FIG. 26, the DSA (e.g., scalable, modular board) can include multiple sensor elements/pyramids 20 formed of conductive plates (or otherwise formed as described in various embodiments herein). While the previous embodiments have employed a flat i-PCB 10, in the embodiment of FIG. 26 the shaping of the DSA is domed (or, more generally, has a non-flat or curved surface 130, e.g. with a fixed curved radius in some more specific embodiments). The domed-shaped DSA of FIG. 26 (including sensor elements/pyramids 20 formed along the curved surface 130) can support beam-forming and beam-steering. For example, the DSA can be configured to attach to a curved surface such as, for example, the exterior of an airplane. Using beam-forming, a certain series of amplitudes may be applied to the sensor elements/pyramids 20 of the DSA to knock out side loads and create a concentrated, directed beam steered directionally to the DSA. In other words, the amplitudes of different elements can be changed and the phase shifts between adjacent elements used to direct concentrated beams at the sensor elements/pyramids 20 of the DSA. The illustrative DSA of FIG. 26 also includes optional dielectric material 132 disposed between the sensor elements/pyramids 20, for example as described with reference to FIGS. 18-24.

With reference to FIG. 27, a network 200 is shown, including access node 208 (e.g., signal source/node for detecting signals, etc.) directly communicating with one DSA 206, and relay node 204 (e.g., could be, for example, an interferer node, used to relay signal information, etc.) communicating with another DSA 202 (e.g., scalable, modular board that includes, for example, multiple elements, which can be formed as an array and function as an electromagnetic radiation interface or other conductive material).

FIG. 28 shows a diagrammatic representation of a processing node 900 including a communication interface 902, a user interface 904, and a processing system 906 with storage 908 storing software 910. The processing node 900 may, for example, be used in conjunction with the DSA of FIG. 25.

Some further contemplated optional aspects and/or extensions are listed as follows. Antenna that includes a single port. Cable transmission line or transmission line that is not formed as an integral part of the sensor element. Inner conductor and/or dielectric material formed with the electrically conductive tapered projection and/or sensor without a plate (e.g., the sensor is formed as part of the bristle structure). Electrically conductive tapered projections formed of something other than metal or that is formed of multiple antennas. Transmission line that corresponds to multiple electrically conductive tapered projections or antennas. Random signal capture area. Shorter length of electrically conductive tapered projections compared to wavelength. Do not terminate follicle in a resistive element that matches the impedance of the follicle (e.g., find another way to ‘electrically black’ the signal). Don't digitally convert the signals to create a digital replica of the incident electromagnetic energy. Don't use electronic modules to create an active surface that controls the amplitude of the reflected signals (e.g., amplify the signal by a factor relating to real magnitude). Pixel partition elements (electrically conductive tapered projections) that do not correspond to a single horizontal/vertical circuit board. Use something other than RF waves (e.g., acoustic or magnetic aperture designed equivalently to the RF aperture embodiments described herein). Provide the partition elements to each have a frequency dependent effective area. Form the circuit boards as part of the partition elements. In other words, form partition elements of some material that holds or supports a circuit board. The partition elements are also contemplated to be the circuit board. Printed partition element that includes a printed circuit board formed as part of it. Use a printed circuit board on the partition element or formed with the partition element to guide RF signals and or disperse, etc., on the rest of the partition element. In some contemplated embodiments, the circuit boards terminate in a balanced transmission line. The support substrate (e.g. illustrative i-PCB 10) could alternatively be formed as a portion of the electrically conductive tapered projections or partition elements. Conductive “seats” or “pads” that are not positioned on the substrate or that surround the electrically conductive tapered projections or partition elements. This refers to “conductive” seats or pads such as copper. Seats or pads that are not conductive could use a material that effects the acoustic response, such as a polymer (in the case of an acoustic aperture). Similarly, different properties could be provided to transform the RF waves.

In the following, some further illustrative implementations of the electrically conductive tapered projections are described. In some embodiments, these are solid elements, as in the following examples.

The protrusions should be firmly mounted to a surface (flat, or curved) and make discrete, electrical contact along each face of the protrusion. The protrusions may be non-round protrusions, having at least 3 faces and 3 edges connecting the faces. Undue ‘play’ or uncoupled movement between the interface board and the protrusion can result in decreased RF performance.

With reference to FIGS. 29-31, an embodiment employs electrically conductive tapered protrusions 300 and an interface board 302 which contains conductive traces 304. The protrusion 300 is made from a solid conductive material, such as metal bar stock, e.g. of copper or aluminum which are readily available, high performance, and cost effective. The illustrative electrically conductive tapered protrusion 300 has the shape of a four-sided pyramid. The protrusion 300 is held against the board 302 with a screw or other threaded fastener 306 causing consistent pressure to be made along the base edges. This pressure ensures an electrical contact because the conductive traces 304 are slightly higher than the non-conductive elements of the circuit board 302, and the conductive traces 304 are exposed, as seen in FIG. 29. The top view of the configuration with the protrusion 300 mounted is shown in FIG. 30, while FIG. 31 shows a top view of the interface board 302 in isolation. In this design, the protrusion 300 has at least one small nub (and in the illustrative embodiment two small nubs 308) that maintain the proper orientation of the protrusion 300 with respect to the conductive surfaces. The protrusion 300 has a centered hole 310 that is threaded to receive the screw 306 after the screw passes through a through-hole 312 in the interface board 302. The mounting method is independent of the length of protrusion 300, and so the height of the protrusion 300 above the surface of the board 302 is a free design parameter.

With reference to FIGS. 32-35 an embodiment is shown which permits the protrusion mounting to work with a non-PCB interface board (that is, an interface board that does not include printed circuitry). The mounting method uses sheet goods to electrically connect the pyramids with perpendicular boards (not shown in FIGS. 32-36) below the interface board. FIGS. 32 and 33 show side and bottom isolation views, respectively, of a suitable electrically conductive tapered protrusion 300, which may be of the same design as in FIGS. 29-31, e.g. having the shape of a four-sided pyramid. Here the protrusion 300 sits on an electrically conductive (e.g., metal) mount 320. The mount 320 is shown in isolation in FIG. 34, with the nubs 308 captured in the holes 322 of the mount 320. Tabs 324 of the mount (labeled in FIG. 34) then insert and protrude through an interface board 330, as shown in the exploded perspective view of FIG. 35. Screws 306 then go from the backside of the interface board 330, through the respective mounts 320, and into the centered holes 310 of the respective protrusions 300. Again, the mounts can be used with protrusions 300 of different heights. In this configuration the mount 320 can be designed so that the size of the base is interchangeable as well. So long as the tabs 324 that mount through the interface board 330 are in the same location, the size of the mount can be changed at will. As shown in FIG. 35, this design allows for the interface board 330 to be an electrically non-conductive housing, which may contain electrical circuitry for operating the array of electrically conductive tapered protrusions 300 in RF transmit and/or RF receive mode(s).

With reference to FIG. 36, another embodiment employs an electrically conductive tapered protrusion 340 in which the nubs 308 of the embodiments of FIGS. 29-35 are replaced by recesses 348. In this embodiment, the interface board 330 of the embodiments of FIGS. 29-35 is replaced by an interface board 350 which includes nubs 352 that mate with the recesses 348. In other words, the positive nubs 308 are replaced with holes 348, which in some manufacturing processes reduces machining time, and thus cost, and results in less material waste. To do so, the interface board 350 is designed to supply the nubs 352 itself. The interface board 350 may for example be injection molded or produced by additive manufacturing, in both cases the inclusion of the nubs 352 is of little consequence to material or tooling costs. For the same strength as the metal nub 308 on the solid metal protrusion 300, the nub 352 on the non-metal interface board 350 should be larger due to its material composition, but this is to no detriment because the increased hole size in the mount 320 and in the protrusion 340 do not affect cost or performance.

In a variant approach, the use of nubs is eliminated by using a second screw, with both screws being offset from the center of the protrusion being secured. Using two screws requires two tapping steps, and doubles the number of screws, and doubles the time spent fastening.

With reference to FIGS. 37-39, in some designs the electrically conductive tapered protrusions are faceted with various geometries. As mentioned, the electrically conductive tapered protrusions 300 as shown in FIGS. 30 and 35 are four-sided pyramids with four-fold rotational symmetry. FIG. 37 shows an embodiment which is also a four-sided pyramid, but with only two-fold rotational symmetry. This design could support different sensitivities and signal chain complexities along opposing orthogonal polarizations. FIG. 38 shows an embodiment in which the electrically conductive tapered protrusions are six-sided (i.e. hexagonal) pyramids with six-fold rotational symmetry. A hexagonal structure provides three different polarizations. This is useful when it is necessary to finely measure or transmit polarization, or when the number of signal chains per surface area is higher, thus increasing transmit power and reducing noise for that same area. FIG. 39 shows an embodiment in which the electrically conductive tapered protrusions are three-sided (i.e. triangular) pyramids with three-fold rotational symmetry. These have similar properties to the hexagonal design of FIG. 38. More generally, any configuration where the geometry can tesselate is possible, with the most straightforward being a geometry that can tessellate with only itself.

In the following, some further illustrative implementations of the electrically conductive tapered projections are described. In these embodiments, the projections are hollow elements, e.g. formed by plates as in the following examples.

Manufacturing of solid electrically conductive tapered protrusions uses substantial amounts of interior material that does not effect the RF performance, as the electromotive force only flows on the outside surface of the protrusion, to a depth equaling the skin depth of the particular frequency of the coupled RF radiation. Employing hollow electrically conductive tapered protrusions can reduce weight, material cost, and fabrication cost. Hollow protrusions can be made from sheet goods, such as electrically conductive plates. In the various embodiments next discussed, the electrically conductive plates may have a positive support, or may be freestanding or self-supporting plates, or may have a negative support.

Key attributes for DSA market acceptance include Size, Weight, Power, and Cost (SWAP-C) per equivalent performance. Using faceted electrically conductive tapered projections (such as those of FIGS. 30, 35, and 37-39; as opposed to conical projections) facilitates machining the faceted projections from solid aluminum or copper stock. While convenient, significant material is used in solid projections, with significant tool time, raising both the cost and weight of the DSA. Being that the electromagnetic wave only travels a small depth (i.e. the skin depth) into the protrusion, only the first few micrometers of the outer surface need to be electrically conductive. The calculation for skin depth is as follows:

$\begin{matrix} {\delta = \sqrt{\frac{\rho}{\pi f_{0}\mu_{r}\mu_{0}}}} & (1) \end{matrix}$ Where δ is the skin depth, ρ is the resistivity of the material, f₀ is the frequency-of-interest, μ_(r) is the relative permeability of the material (˜1 for copper and aluminum), and μ₀ is the permeability of free space. For the frequencies-of-interest to the current generation of DSA design, i.e., 100 MHz and greater, the skin depth is less than 10 micrometers. The result is that the conductive surface of the DSA protrusions only need to be a few skin depths, e.g. 5-10 microns, in thickness on each side to support the current flow from the protrusion to the signal chain.

With reference to FIGS. 40 and 41, an electrically conductive tapered projection 400 is suitably milled from bar stock, and then is processed by a finishing step where excess material is removed. FIG. 40 shows an example of this approach where a single tapped screw hole 40 ₂ is maintained in the center of the structure and the remaining material is milled out, retaining a thickness of material that is appropriate for mechanical rigidity. FIG. 40 shows a central cylinder support 404 disposed inside the hollow projection 400. The illustrative central cylinder 404 has a circular cross-section extending to the top of the protrusion, however this cylinder support could have a square or rectangular cross-section which would be faster to machine with only a moderate penalty in weight. While this solution reduces the weight of the projection, it increases the tooling time and thus the cost as compared with a solid projection, and maintains the same material cost as a solid projection.

Rather than subtractive milling, the electrically conductive tapered projection 400 could be manufactured by casting or additive manufacturing. Casting reduces manufacturing costs and material waste, but is only suitable in high volume applications. The projection 400 manufactured by casting would likely have a rough surface and be thicker than necessary for mechanical rigidity. For additive manufacturing, the material must be conductive limiting the applicable technologies. Generally, additive manufacturing would be most costly then milling, and result in a rough surface.

In the following, a plate-based approach is described for manufacturing the electrically conductive tapered projections. Three variants of the plate-based approach are described: an approach using a positive support; an approach that is free standing, i.e. self-supporting; and an approach utilizing a negative support.

With reference to FIGS. 42-48, an embodiment employing positive support is described. Here, individual electrically conductive (e.g., metal) tapered plates 420 (shown in isolation in FIG. 42 in alternative perspective views) are supported internally by a dielectric structure 422 shown in FIGS. 43 and 44 in alternative perspective views. Each electrically conductive tapered plate 420 has a tab 424 at the bottom that electrically extends the plate beyond the base of the protrusion to make electrical connection with an interface board (PCB or not PCB) or a perpendicular boards located below the interface board, or some other electronics. Each plate 420 further has a bend 426 in the plate at the point where the protrusion ends. The bend 426 permits the plate 420 to travel through the interface board at a ninety-degree angle. While optional, this bent configuration saves material and provides an easier connection. A third feature is an angled extension 428 below the plane of the tapered projection. This angled extension 428 mates with the interface board, ensuring a slide into the board and positive capture. It also increases the strength at the bend 426.

The electrically conductive tapered plates 420 are supported by the dielectric structure 422 shown in FIGS. 43 and 44. This structure has four (for the illustrative four-sided faceted projection) tapered (e.g. “V”-shaped) receptacles 430 (labeled in FIG. 43) into which four respective electrically conductive tapered plates 420 mate. The mating is by the “V”-shaped (or more generally, tapered) receptacles 430 capturing the edges of the electrically conductive “V”-shaped (more generally, tapered) plates 420, allowing the electrically conductive tapered plates 420 to slide in as shown in alternative perspective views of FIGS. 45 and 46. The electrically conductive tapered plates 420 thus define the facets of the electrically conductive tapered projection 400. As seen in FIGS. 44 and 46, the bottom of the dielectric structure 422 has two nubs 432 to prevent rotation once mounted to an interface board 440 (shown in isolation in FIG. 47) with matched locating holes 442. Additionally, there is a hole 444 in the center that can be threaded to receive a screw, or smooth for a rivet. The fastener used at this hole goes from the back of the interface board, into the supporting structure, rigidly holding the entire assembly together. Once assembled, the system has the appearance of FIG. 48 which shows five electrically conductive tapered projections 420, 422 mounted on the topside, and FIG. 49 which shows the backside with the tabs 424 protruding.

Benefits of this plate-based approach include that it is interchangeable with the a solid projection design, permitting the choice of solid or plate-based projection type to be made for each application. Additionally, the plate design configuration is lighter and has significantly less material cost than the solid projection or hollowed projection approaches. The dielectric support 422 can be formed by an injection molding process for high manufacturing volume, or via additive manufacturing at low manufacturing volume. The assembly time is increased slightly due to the step of inserting the plates into the supporting structures. One RF performance benefit is that the plates, being electrically isolated, can provide higher cross polarization isolation as compared with a solid or hollowed out projection in which there are conductive paths between the facets.

In the preceding example the internal structure (i.e., dielectric support 422) was required to support the plates 420. However, the complete isolation of individual sides of the faceted electrically conductive tapered projections has been shown in experimentation to lead to mechanical resonances that can decrease RF performance. To address these issues, in the following some illustrative configurations are disclosed to provide a freestanding projections that needs no internal structure. These electrically conductive tapered projections are fabricated using sheet goods, further reducing costs. Any of the examples could be attached at the edges over the entire length or at points through applying solder or creating a tabbed connection where a tab located on one face slides into a cut on the adjacent space. The point-based soldering solutions could be ideal in that it eliminates mechanical resonances by rigidly attaching the faces, while still permitting a great deal of cross polarization isolation.

Some illustrative examples that follow show the projection coming to a point for simplicity. However, coming a point is not necessary, and for mechanical strength or ease of fabrication the top of the protrusion can be a shaped matched to the bottom of the protrusion, but smaller in size.

An example is shown in FIGS. 50 and 51. In this example, FIG. 51 shows a faceted electrically conductive tapered projection 450 that is formed by folding a single-piece cut-out 452 from a metal sheet as shown in FIG. 50. As best seen prior to folding in FIG. 50, the cut-out 452 includes the four facets 454 (in this example) which meet at a small square apex facet 456 (or, alternatively, at an apex point as seen in alternative embodiments of FIGS. 52-54). The facets 454 of the single-piece cut-out 452 are folded at their junctions with the apex facet 456 (or apex point) to form the faceted electrically conductive tapered projection 450. Each facet 454 includes a tab 458 distal from its junction with the apex facet 456 (or apex point) that mates into an interface board 460 as seen in FIG. 51, to electrically connect with the RF circuitry. In the assembled projection 450 of FIG. 51, edges of the neighboring facets 454 may optionally be connected by soldering or by mating tabs (features not shown in FIGS. 50 and 51). As just noted, the apex facet 456 is optional but can add mechanical strength (if the apex facet 456 is omitted then the four facets come together at an apex point).

With reference to FIG. 52, a variant embodiment is shown, with the faceted electrically conductive tapered projection 470 shown in the bottom part of FIG. 52 and the corresponding single-piece cut-out 472 shown in the top part of FIG. 52. This embodiment omits the apex facet 456 of the embodiment of FIGS. 50 and 51, so that the four facets 474 of this embodiment come to a point. Additionally, the tabs 458 of the embodiment of FIGS. 50 and 51 are omitted, and in their place a bottom plate 476 is attached to one of the facets 474 in the cut-out. The bottom plate 476 has an opening 477 for capturing a fastener 478, such as a bolt head or a rivet. If a bolt is used, attachment is performed before completion of the folding because once the folding is completed the inside of the projection 470 is not accessible. Once folded the projection 470 can be soldered at points or along the entire edge, or a tabbed connection could be used (features not shown). Alternatively, the bottom edges of the facets 474 could be soldered to an interface board, or the bottoms could fold to create a tab that rests on top of the interface board. This variant is lightweight. It can provide good cross-polarization isolation. However, the nature of the folding could result in variabilities in RF performance since there is no mechanical connection. Additionally, as shown in FIG. 52 with a single screw, the pyramid could rotate if only a pressure fit is used to electrically attach the faces. Having two screws fasten the bottom plate 476 would double the number of attachment steps but eliminate the rotation issue. In this embodiment a PCB is suitably used for the interface board to provide for electrical connection to the projection 470. Furthermore, variations are contemplated such as providing a bottom plate on more than one of the facets 474, so when folded the bottom is replicated, thus adding rigidity and consistency at a penalty of material weight and cost.

With reference to FIG. 53, another illustrative faceted electrically conductive tapered projection 480 is shown in the bottom part of FIG. 53 and the corresponding single-piece cut-out 482 shown in the top part of FIG. 53. This embodiment is similar to that of FIGS. 50 and 51 and includes the four facets 454 with the tabs 458; but the apex facet 456 is omitted, so that the four (side) facets come to a point. It should also be noted that further variants are contemplated, such as replacing the apex facet 456 of the embodiment of FIGS. 50 and 51 with a rounded apex, for example formed by a drawing operation. Regarding the tabs 458 of the embodiments of FIGS. 50 and 51 and 53, the tabs 458 are bent to meet the interface board 460 at a 90-degree angle when the projection 480 is bent into its final shape (e.g., as in FIG. 51 and the bottom of FIG. 53). The tabs 458 can be soldered to electrical traces of the interface board 460 when the interface board 460 is a printed circuit board (PCB). This permits a strong mechanical and electrical connection of the electrically conductive tapered projection 450, 480 to the interface board 460. Alternatively, the tabs 458 can pass through the interface board and attach to the perpendicular board below. Optionally, neighboring edges of the facets 454 can be joined using solder or a tab and receiver arrangement (not shown). This method improves on the flat bottom version in that it has reduced weight and requires no mechanical connection other than the joining of the tab to a PCB. The use of the tabs 458 reduces assembly time and overall system Size, Weight, Power, and Cost (SWAP-C) compared to the approach of using the bottom plate 476 as in the embodiment of FIG. 52.

With reference to FIG. 54, another illustrative faceted electrically conductive tapered projection 490 is shown in the bottom part of FIG. 53 and the corresponding single-piece cut-out 492 shown in the top part of FIG. 53. This embodiment employs four facets 494 each with a tab 498 offset-positioned at a corner of the facet 494. Here the interface board 460 has a thickness at least the depth of the trianglular facet 494 added to the tab. While the illustrative tab 498 is offset to one side, it could alternatively be in the middle with a triangle added to either side.

With reference to FIG. 55, an embodiment employing plates with negative (i.e. external) support is disclosed. A DSA may include a radome (i.e., a structural enclosure that may optionally be weatherproof) to protect the electrically conductive tapered projections and provide a safe surface for external contact. In this embodiment, a radome 500 includes or defines a form 502 with tapered projection-shaped recesses 504. To construct electrically conductive tapered projections 506, a sheet of metal is laid on top of the form 502 (e.g. at a position diagrammatically indicated in FIG. 55 by dashed line 508), then a punch is applied to push the sheet metal into the tapered projection-shaped recesses 504. Alternatively, a separate sheet may be punched to form each projection 506. The punch may be shaped in the same cross section as the projections 506. (Note, in diagrammatic FIG. 55, a gap is shown between the surfaces of the tapered projection-shaped recesses 504 and the projections 506 in order to distinguish them; however, in actual fabrication the tapered projections 506 will be pressed against and contacting the corresponding surfaces of the tapered projection-shaped recesses 504). This approach has certain benefits. It facilitates automation of DSA assembly. It also provides support for the projections 506 thereby permitting thinner material and a higher level of environmental robustness. The radome 500 should be made of a dielectric material, such as plastic, and can be fabricated by a manufacturing approach such as injection molding or three-dimensional (3D) printing technology. Injection molding can build strong, light and low-cost radomes. Note the form 502 need not be solid and could alternatively be mostly vacant.

In the following, some further illustrative implementations are described, which address an issue recognized herein that the interface board, if metallic (for example, a PCB with a ground plane) can adversely impact RF performance of the DSA.

The DSA architecture works best with no electrically conductive material immediately behind the gap between electrically conductive tapered projections. On the other hand, most radio frequency componentry performs best when mounted proximate to a ground plane, for example on a PCB with a ground plane. To address this issue, some embodiments disclosed herein employ PCBs that are mounted perpendicular to the surface on which the projections are mounted.

In a DSA design such as that of FIG. 2, the projections 20 are mounted directly to the printed circuit board (PCB) 10, and the opposing side of the PCB 10 is used to mount RF componentry (e.g., the chip baluns 30 in the example of FIG. 2). The PCB 10 has at least 2 layers, with conductive traces connecting the protrusions 20 on the ‘top’ to the baluns 30, and either the inner layer (when more than 2 layers are present) or an outer layer as a flooded ground plane. A flooded ground plane provides a low resistance surface for electricity to flow by filling the surface, to the extent possible, with a conductive material. The ground plane is included to improve RF componentry performance.

With reference to FIG. 56, this is diagrammatically illustrated by showing the electrically conductive tapered projections 20 and the underlying ground plane 510 (which is part of the PCB 10 of the embodiment of FIG. 2). The ground plane 510, being integral to the same substrate (i.e. PCB 10) to which the projections 20 are mounted, results in an electrically conductive surface being mounted less than one complete wavelength away from the gaps between the protrusions 20 at the bases of the protrusions 20. FIG. 56 diagrammatically shows the resulting RF interference due to the reflection of the incoming radio frequency wave back into the projection space. While the interference can be both constructive or destructive, the overall result is a decrease in wideband performance and an increase in design complexity required to resolve such interference at multiple arrival angles and frequencies.

One solution (not illustrated) is to replace the continuous ground plane with a ground plane extending under the bases of the projections, but not extending between the projections. In such an approach, the RF componentry would be sufficiently miniaturized so that it fits entirely under the bases of the projections. However, this approach would require a complex “grid-like” ground plane and highly miniaturized RF components.

With reference to FIG. 57, another solution is illustrated. By moving the conductive surface, i.e., the ground plane 510, further then one wavelength away from the bases of the projections 20, the PCB can be used in an orientation perpendicular to the impingent electromagnetic wave (e.g., as in FIG. 2). This approach involves providing a standoff 520 from the protrusion 20 to the PCB that provides rigid support, and a conductive connection 522 for each face of the projection 20, e.g. four connections 522 when the projection 20 is square or rectangular. In a variant embodiment (not shown), the conductive connections 522 provide the rigid support, so that the separate standoff 522 could optionally be eliminated. The standoffs provide a separation 524 between the bases of the projections 20 and the ground plane 510. This approach is most suitable for higher RF operating frequencies, as for low frequencies the requisite separation 524 becomes large, and this can reduce rigidity and lead to failure under shock and vibration. For example, at 400 MHz, the separation 524 provided by the standoffs would need to be approximately 0.75 meters. By contrast, at 10 GHz the separation 524 provided by the standoffs would only need to be 3 centimeters.

With reference to FIG. 58, another solution is to mount the electrically conductive tapered projections 20 on an electrically non-conductive interface board 550, and to mount the RF componentry 552 on perpendicular printed circuit boards (PCBs) 560 that are oriented perpendicularly to the interface board 550. That is, rather than mounting the projections 20 on an interface board that is a PCB with an electrically conductive ground plane, in the embodiment of FIG. 58 a dielectric substrate interface board 550 is used. A top surface of the dielectric interface board 550 supports the projections 20, and a set of PCBs 560 for supporting the RF componentry 552 are oriented perpendicular to the surface 550. The perpendicular PCBs 560 contain or support the RF components 552 mounted over ground planes of the PCBs 560. In one embodiment (shown in FIG. 58) there is a perpendicular PCB 560 located between each row of projections 20. In another embodiment (not shown) there is one perpendicular PCB underlying each row of projections. Placing the perpendicular PCBs 560 between the rows of projections 20 is well-suited for operating the DSA in a differential mode.

The interface board 550 can be manufactured of any rigid, or semi-rigid dielectric material, such as plastic (e.g., Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, i.e. ABS). Alternatively, the interface board 550 can be a printed circuit board (PCB), but one that does not include a continuous ground plane. Using a PCB without a ground plane, but with electrically conductive traces, as the interface board 550 permits easier connection of signals between the projections 20 to the connections with the perpendicular PCBs 560 (which do have ground planes). In one approach, the connections to the perpendicular PCBs 560 employs card edge connectors. Using a PCB without a ground plane as the interface board 550 also permits the edges to be terminated with a load directly on the PCB, simplifying design. However, utilizing a PCB without a ground plane as the interface board 550 raises the cost over using a sheet of dielectric material. The sheet dielectric can be made to capture the perpendicular PCBs via various fastening configurations, such as screw holes with a corresponding right angle bracket, edge connectors, tenons, or so forth. Another option is to create a mount for the projections 20 which attaches the projection 20, mount and surface through a screw, rivet, or the like, and the mount mechanically and electrically attaches to the perpendicular PCBs 560. The mount may be soldered or compression type, optionally aided by a screw.

In some embodiments, the interface board 550 forms part of a housing for the DSA, for example the interface board 550 can be one side of a five-sided box enclosure housing. The front surface mounts the protrusions and an optional radome, while the bottom has connection points for an optional backside cover. (See FIGS. 64 and 65).

In some embodiments, edges of the perpendicular PCBs 560 are secured to the interface board 550. In this arrangement, the perpendicular boards 560 are subject to stress when under shock or vibration. These stresses can be relieved by the rigid mounting to the interface board 550, and/or by inclusion of a second support board 562 oriented parallel with the interface board 550 to secure the edges of the perpendicular boards 560 distal from the interface board 550, as shown in FIG. 59. The second support board 562 should also not contain a ground plane, unless the perpendicular boards 560 are of sufficient size to position the second support board 562 more than one RF wavelength away from the bases of the projections 20.

FIG. 60 shows a plan-view of a DSA incorporating the concepts described in FIG. 58. Here the upper surface of the interface board 550 is a PCB (without a ground plane) enabling interconnections 564 of the perpendicular row boards 560 to columns of projections 20, and optional edge terminations 566. The design of FIG. 60 can also optionally include the second support board 562 (occluded from view in FIG. 60), which can improve mechanical rigidity of the assembly so as to improve robustness against shock and vibration. If the second support board 562 is included, then it can optionally include additional routing of electrical connections between the perpendicular row boards 560, simplifying the connection to further signal chain elements. As previously noted, if the perpendicular boards 560 are of sufficient size to position the second support board 562 more than one RF wavelength away from the bases of the projections 20, then the second support board 562 may also include a ground plane and RF componentry.

With reference to FIGS. 61-63, in another embodiment two orthogonal sets of perpendicular boards 560, 570 are provided. The set of perpendicular boards 560 (also referred to as “row boards”) are perpendicular to the interface board 550, while another set of perpendicular boards 570 (also referred to as “column boards”) are perpendicular to the interface board 550 and are also perpendicular to the row boards 560. In this embodiment, the row boards 560 and column boards 570 include cutouts 572 to enable the row and column boards 560, 570 to mate together to form a two-dimensional grid of perpendicular boards 560, 570 all of which are perpendicular to the interface board 550. This facilitates providing electrical connections to both rows and columns of projections 20, and the grid of intermeshed row and column boards 560, 570 provides additional rigidity to the assembly. The cutouts 572 allow the crossing row and column PCBs 560, 570 to cross and intermesh. If the cutouts 572 are mechanically affixed when assembled (e.g. by glue), or have an interference fit, then the assembly becomes a self-supporting two-dimensional grid. Although not shown in FIGS. 61-63, the second support board 562 of the embodiment of FIG. 59 can also be included to further enhance rigidity. The benefits of this method of using crossing row and column perpendicular boards 560, 570 include that it simplifies electrical connection to both rows and columns of projections 20, improves rigidity of the assembly, and optionally allows for omitting the second support board 562 (due to the improved rigidity provided by the intermeshing row and column boards 560, 570). Again, the interface board 550 can be made of any electrically non-conducting material, or can be a PCB without a flood fill (that is, without a continuous ground plane). However, the use of both column and row boards 560, 570 can alleviate the need for electrical conductors on the interface board 550, thus enabling the interface board 550 to be a simple dielectric board with no printed circuitry.

With reference to FIGS. 64 and 65, a complete DSA assembly including the embodiment of FIGS. 61-63 is shown. FIG. 64 shows an exploded perspective view of the DSA assembly. This embodiment does not include the second support board 562. In the DSA assembly of FIG. 64, the interface board 550 is a front surface of a five-sided housing or enclosure 580, which is shown in isolation in FIG. 65. The protrusions 20 are disposed on respective mounts 320 (the mounts 320 were previously illustrated in, and described with reference to, FIG. 34) secured by screws 306 (as previously illustrated in, and described with reference to, FIG. 36). The DSA assembly of FIG. 64 further includes a radome 582 with associated gasket 584. The radome 582 fits over the electrically conductive tapered projections 20 and over a portion or all of the enclosure or housing 580, and is secured by fasteners 586. On the backside of the enclosure or housing 580, a rear cover or support 588 and associated gasket 590 is provided, and secured to the DSA assembly by fasteners 592. This design utilizes the interface board 550 as a dielectric surface that also forms the front face of the five-sized housing 580 (see also FIG. 65). The housing 580 contains grooves on the internal faces (not shown) that capture the edges of the perpendicular boards 560, 570, thereby increasing shock and vibration survivability. The interface board 550 (and optionally the entire housing 580) may be a single-piece plastic component, for example fabricated by additive manufacturing or injection molding. As noted, the projections 20 connect to respective mounts 320 which then mechanically and electrically attach to the row and column boards 560, 570. The mounts 320 can be made from stamped metal, which significantly decreases the material and fabrication cost of the projections 20.

The DSA designs disclosed herein can be employed with a wide range of RF componentry configurations. In the following, some illustrative signal chains suitably used with the disclosed DSAs are presented.

The DSA interfaces with free space for electromagnetic capture and/or launch (depending on application) in a differential mode, which means that it works off a difference in RF signal between two points. Most commercial off-the-shelf RF circuitry assumes a single ended mode of operation where a signal is on a single conductor and is referenced to a ground. The DSA architecture can be made to work with the single ended circuitry through a transformer referred to as a balun (i.e., “balanced-unbalanced”). This is illustrated in FIG. 66 showing a side view (upper drawing) and top view (lower drawing). FIG. 66 shows an RF coupling in which baluns 600 connect the electrically conductive tapered projections 20 and convert the differential signal to a single ended signal. FIG. 66 shows a 3×2 DSA configuration (which can be extended to any MxN DSA configuration, where M and N are each integers greater than or equal to one). In this case the electrically conductive tapered projections 20 are four-sided faceted pyramids, and each facet is connected to the opposing facet of a neighboring projection 20 through the differential side of the balun 600. Herein, this space is referred to as a pixel.

Generally, the baluns are connected to some form of signal chain, two particular embodiments are shown in FIG. 67. The embodiments of FIG. 67 are for a transceiver, i.e. a DSA that provides both transmit (TX) and receive (RX) operations. If only a transmitter, i.e. a DSA that only provides transmit (TX) operation; or only a receiver, i.e. a DSA that provides only receive (RX) operation, is desired, then the switch 614 (upper time-division duplexing signal chain 610) or circulator or duplexer 616 (lower frequency division duplexing or full duplexing signal chain 612) can be omitted, and the unneeded pathway (TX or RX) can be omitted. FIG. 67 also shows the direct attachment of the signal chain 610, 612 to the balun 600, equating a one to one ratio between the number of opposing faces of the projections 20 and signal chains.

The upper part of FIG. 67 shows an example of a signal chain 610 using an RX/TX switch 614. The design of the signal chain 610 does not directly power the receive circuit with the transmit circuit. The switch 614 serves the function of isolating the TX and RX pathways. The circuit 610 cannot both transmit and receive at the same time, often called Time Domain Duplexing (TDD). However, a DSA electrical architecture may have some signal chains 610 operating in RX mode and some signal chains operating in TX mode, simultaneously, to provide both transmit and receive operation at the same time, albeit with a decrease in aperture efficiency. Use of the switch 614 in the signal chain 610 has the benefit that switches are low cost, readily available, can handle high power, and can operate over a wide bandwidth.

The lower part of FIG. 67 shows an example of a signal chain 612 that is capable of operating in either Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) or Full Duplex (FD). FDD allows simultaneous transmit and receive by transmitting and receiving on separate frequencies and filtering out the transmit frequency from the received signal. Here the switch 614 is replaced by a component 616 such as a diplexer or circulator. A diplexer divides transmit and receive by frequency, whereas a circulator acts like a series of gates permitting the transmit energy to largely avoid reflecting into the RX pathway. The diplexer is not adjustable and requires a designed-in approach to frequency operation (e.g., designated transmit and receive frequencies or frequency bands). Typical commercially available circulators do not exceed approximately 1 GHz (or one octave) in bandwidth. This places constraints on a DSA in using a signal chain such as the illustrative signal chain 612. FD means the signal chain can operate in both transmit and receive modes on the same frequency at the same time, while maintaining isolation of the RX path from the TX path. This is commonly achieved through using different antennas or a circulator, combined with a cancellation circuitry that connects the TX path to the RX path through an inverse signal. The DSA architecture can achieve full duplex operation by having the TX and RX pathways on different sets of projections 20, and thus using different signal chains for each mode, or by including a circulator.

In either TDD, FDD, or FD mode, the signal chain can be varied to support a multitude of different electrical architectures, each with their own SWAP-C/performance tradeoffs.

With reference to FIG. 68, an illustrative 4×4 DSA supports up to 40 individual signal chains, where the signal chains are diagrammatically indicated by circles 620 in FIG. 68. There are benefits to this approach, such as the ability to use low power TX amplifiers (often called power amplifiers, PAs), a lower noise floor due to averaging uncorrelated noise of the RX amplifiers (often called low noise amplifiers, LNAs), increased signal dynamic range, aperture subset-ing where a portion of the aperture is dedicated to a function and a different portion dedicated to a different function, and dynamic and arbitrary beam forming and polarization generation. However, this performance comes at a penalty in SWAP-C because each signal chain consumes space and power and raises the cost.

With reference to FIG. 69, it is thus sometimes desirable to combine the signals so that one signal chain supports multiple pixels. One way is to combine the pixels into rows and columns, which maintains multiple polarization operation and beam steering and forming in azimuth and elevation. To combine pixels, a combiner or splitter (e.g., combiner 632 or combiners 634 in the illustrative signal chain 630 of FIG. 69) is inserted into the signal chain at one or more locations in the TX/RX pathways. The combiner 632, 634 is a bidirectional device, meaning current can flow either way, or both ways simultaneously. FIG. 69 shows that a combiner 632 can be placed in between the duplexer and the balun, or alternatively combiners 634 can be placed upstream of a power amplifier (PA) 636 in the TX path and downstream of a low noise amplifier (LNA) 638 in the RX path. (While FIG. 69 shows the combiner 632 coupled with a single illustrative pixel via the illustrated balun 600, more generally the combiner 632 can be coupled with multiple pixels via the respective baluns of the pixels. Likewise, while the illustrative combiners 634 are coupled with a single illustrative pixel via the power amplifier 636 and low noise amplifier 638 of the illustrative pixel, more generally the combiners 634 can be coupled with multiple pixels via the respective components 634, 636 of the pixels.) The first location (i.e. combiner 632) is lower cost, because one combiner 632 is used for both TX and RX pathways; however, this arrangement suffers a performance penalty because the combiner 632 typically has limited power handling capability and inserts a signal reduction (a loss) in the RX pathway. The second location (i.e. combiners 634) doubles the number of combiners required but permits the use of per pixel PAs 636, increasing the overall efficiency of conversion of electrical power to RF power, and allows the LNA 638 to overcome the loss of the combiner 634 on the RX pathway and reduce the overall noise figure of the system since the per pixel thermal noise is uncorrelated and reduces system noise at a ratio proportional to 1/√{square root over (Number Pixels)}. Conversely embodiments employing the combiner 632 use a single LNA 638 for many pixels and receives less noise figure benefit.

The signal chain 630 of FIG. 69 assumes that there are sufficient number of signal chains present to perform beam steering and beam forming, if desired. While some beam forming and steering can be done with two signal chains, four signal chains provides a better performing solution. The highest cost and highest power consuming portion of the signal chain is often the analog to digital conversion, and the digital signal processing required to performing the operations needed for beam steering and forming.

With reference to FIG. 70, a signal chain 640 illustrates one way to reduce system cost. The signal chain 640 includes a phase shifter or time delay 642 downstream of the digital to analog converter (DAC) 644, and a phase shifter or time delay 646 upstream to the analog to digital converter (ADC) 648. This method reduces the number of required signal chains, and in some cases only one signal chain is needed. The tradeoff is that the time shifters or delays 642, 646 can limit wide band operations in some implementations.

In all signal chains shown herein, it is noted that the digital to analog converter optionally can be followed by a mixer that raises the frequency of the signal, and the analog to digital converter optionally can be preceded by a mixer that lowers the frequency of the signal.

With reference to FIG. 71, some RF components can operate on signals differentially instead of single ended. Using such “differential” RF components enables the DSA to operate with a fully differential signal chain 650 as shown in FIG. 71. Here the inputs are maintained as a balanced pair all the way to the conversion from or to a digital word at the ADC 648 or DAC 644. The power amplifier (PA) 636 and the low-noise amplifier (LNA) 638 process differential signals in this embodiment. The illustrative embodiment of FIG. 71 further includes a switch (or alternatively a duplexer or circulator) 652 to provide time-division or frequency-division duplexing of the TX and RX differential paths, and an optional filter 654 upstream of the LNA 638. It is noted that the switch, duplexer, or circulator is coupled to one or more aperture pixels without an intervening balun.

A variant embodiment may employ a semi-differential signal chain (not shown) where differential signals are maintained to a location short of the DAC and ADC, and baluns are used to convert at that point.

The combiners each insert a loss, are limited in channel count, and increase SWAP-C. Various designs can be employed to mitigate these effects.

With reference to FIG. 72, an example is shown in which the combiner 632 is included after the signal chain 660 (e.g., this could be the signal chain 630 of FIG. 69, or the signal chain 640 of FIG. 70) and fans out to 4 pixels. These pixels are shown in a row, and the combiner 632 is a 4-1 combiner utilized in front of the signal chain 660. In this example, all 4 pixels receive the same signal, and pixel level steering along the azimuth is not possible. An optional modification is to place a phase shifter between the combiner and baluns. The approach represents a low power, low cost configuration. Note that these examples could easily be extending to larger DSAs, e.g., a 10×10 DSA requiring 9-1 combiners.

FIG. 73 shows an example of how the combiner 632 can be constructed using multiple combiners 634 in series to create a combiner with larger fanout, or enable phase shifting across multiple pixels. FIG. 73 shows two 2-1 combiners 634 stacked in series. One may choose to do this because of SWAP-C or performance characteristics of the 2-1 vs 4-1 combiner, or the unavailability of the needed combiner fanout. Another reason may be because it is easier to equal total trace lengths from one pixel to another so as not to induce unequal time delays on signal lines. Additionally, one could place a mixer in between the combiners 634 permitting some beam forming and steering between the groups.

FIG. 74 shows that the combiner approach need not be homogenous, i.e., the use of combiners is not balanced between the pixels. In the example of FIG. 74, a 3-1 combiner 672 connects a first signal chain 670 with three pixels, while a fourth pixel has a straight connection to a second signal chain 680. This approach could be useful when the DSA is designed to process multiple signals of interest simultaneously, with different power/sensitivity needs. In this case when the full DSA performance is needed then the two signal chains 670, 680 are combined in the digital domain.

FIG. 75 shows yet another nonlimiting illustrative example, which increases the performance by segregating the TX and RX pathways from the aperture via duplexers 690 (which may be switches, circulators, diplexers, etc). As shown in FIG. 75, a TX signal chain 700 feeds into a first 4-1 combiner 702 to drive power amplifiers (Pas) 704 to transmit via pixels of the DSA. An RX signal chain 710 receives signal via a second 4-1 combiner 712 after amplification by low noise amplifiers (LNAs) 714 (which may optionally contain a pre-filter). Here, a doubling in the number of combiners is necessary, but the performance is thereby increased. The LNAs 714 can negate the loss of the combiners, and one is no longer restricted to the power limitations of the combiners because the Pas 704 are downstream.

FIGS. 76-81 present some further examples with various performance/SWAP-C trade space positions. Note that in these examples, combiners 632 of FIG. 69 are used, which interface directly with the balun 600. It is noted that all of these examples could alternatively be implemented with the combiners 634 in the 2^(nd) position of FIG. 69.

FIG. 76 shows a 5×5 pixel DSA embodiment that offers four signal chains in horizontal polarization and four signal chains in vertical polarization, using combiners 632 which are all 5-1 combiners. This configuration pairs well with Software Defined Radios (SDRs), which have power of two (i.e., 2^(n)) channel counts, e.g. SDRs with 2³=8 channels are commercially available. This design allows simultaneous operation on both polarizations, the ability to measure incoming polarization, and the ability to beam steer and form in both azimuth and elevation. A drawback of this design in the context of the illustrative 5×5 pixel DSA is that it employs 5-1 combiners, which is not a common fanout.

With reference to FIG. 77, to mitigate the need for uncommon 5-1 combiners in the context of the illustrative 5×5 pixel DSA, the design of FIG. 77 can be employed, in which the pixels on one vertical and one horizontal perimeter are not brought into the signal chain, causing a slight reduction in effective aperture area. Thus, only one face of the projections 20 are in use. Here the combiners 632 are all 4-1 combiners. This approach permits the more common 4×1 combiner fanouts to be used, as powers of 2 are most popular. To make better use of the unused faces, the approach of FIG. 74 could be applied to permit an additional signal of interest to be investigated.

When a single polarization is of interest, or beam steering and forming are only necessary in one polarization, the approach of FIG. 78 is useful. Here the rows are connected by combiners 632 served by four signal chains 630 as already described with reference to FIG. 76. However, in the embodiment of FIG. 78 the columns are combined into a single signal chain 720 by a 4-1 combiner 722 fanning out to four 5-1 combiners 724. This configuration is useful, for example, if two signals of interest are in operation and forming and steering are not needed on one of those signals.

FIG. 79 is a DSA architecture that serves a single signal chain 730 with no capability to measure or control polarization, or beam form/steer. The single signal chain is coupled with the rows and columns by a 2-1 combiner 731 fanning out to two 4-1 combiners 732 each in turn fanning out to four 5-1 combiners 734. This architecture is, for example, useful to support an existing single channel radio that needs efficient, ultrawideband performance.

FIG. 80 shows a DSA in which each pixel has its horizontal and vertical polarizations combined, and is connected to its own signal chain. This approach is useful with low noise and high power efficiency are required, and robust beamforming is needed, but the beam pattern and reception pattern are to be symmetrical in polarization.

With reference to FIG. 81, one benefit of a DSA is its ultrawide bandwidth and ability to support many signals simultaneously. However, a given DSA implementation may be limited by bandwidth of the data converters. To mitigate this limitation, the architecture of FIG. 81 can be used in any of the preceding examples. As shown FIG. 81, after the pixels are combined into rows, columns or some other configuration, they are then split out to multiple converters. For the transmit (TX) path, multiple DAC converters 750 are coupled via combiners 752 to a power amplifier (PA) 754. For the receive (RX) path, multiple ADC converters 760 are coupled via combiners 762 to a low noise amplifier (LNA) 764, optionally with pre-filter 766. Note that the converter is considered to include the appropriate filtering and mixers. This architecture is suitable, for example, when the LNA and PAs are present, to reduce the impact of losses in the combiners.

The preferred embodiments have been illustrated and described. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. It is intended that the invention be construed as including all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A radio frequency (RF) aperture comprising: an interface board having a front side and a back side; an array of electrically conductive tapered projections having bases disposed on the front side of the interface board and extending away from the front side of the interface board, wherein the electrically conductive tapered projections are hollow and one or more electronic components are disposed inside the hollow electrically conductive tapered projections; and RF circuitry disposed at the back side of the interface board and electrically connected with the array of electrically conductive tapered projections on the front side of the interface board.
 2. The RF aperture of claim 1 wherein the interface board is an interface printed circuit board and the one or more electronic components disposed inside the hollow electrically conductive tapered projections are mounted on the front side of the interface printed circuit board and are electrically connected with the back side of the interface printed circuit board by electrical feedthroughs passing through the interface printed circuit board.
 3. The RF aperture of claim 2 wherein the one or more electronic components disposed inside the hollow electrically conductive tapered projections and mounted on the front side of the interface printed circuit board are disposed in a recess or hole in the front side of the interface printed circuit board.
 4. A radio frequency (RF) aperture comprising: an interface board having a front side and a back side; an array of electrically conductive tapered projections having bases disposed on the front side of the interface board and extending away from the front side of the interface board; and RF circuitry disposed at the back side of the interface board and electrically connected with the array of electrically conductive tapered projections on the front side of the interface board; wherein the electrically conductive tapered projections of the array of electrically conductive tapered projections include a first set of electrically conductive tapered projections of equal size arranged in a rectilinear array and a second set of electrically conductive tapered projections disposed between the electrically conductive tapered projections of the first set of electrically conductive tapered projections.
 5. The RF aperture of claim 4 wherein the electrically conductive tapered projections of the array of electrically conductive tapered projections are arranged in a rectilinear array are randomly positioned on the front side of the interface printed circuit board.
 6. A radio frequency (RF) aperture comprising: an interface board having a front side and a back side; an array of electrically conductive tapered projections having bases disposed on the front side of the interface board and extending away from the front side of the interface board; dielectric filler disposed between the electrically conductive tapered projections; and RF circuitry disposed at the back side of the interface board and electrically connected with the array of electrically conductive tapered projections on the front side of the interface board.
 7. The RF aperture of claim 6 wherein the dielectric filler has a step-graded permittivity.
 8. The RF aperture of claim 6 wherein the dielectric filler comprises multiple layers in which the layers have different permittivities.
 9. The RF aperture of claim 6 wherein the dielectric filler has a graded permittivity.
 10. A radio frequency (RF) aperture comprising: an interface board having a front side and a back side; an array of faceted electrically conductive tapered projections having bases disposed on the front side of the interface board and extending away from the front side of the interface board; and RF circuitry disposed at the back side of the interface board and electrically connected with aperture pixels comprising differential RF receive and/or transmit elements defined by neighboring facets of neighboring pairs of faceted electrically conductive tapered projections, wherein the RF circuitry includes one or more signal chains each comprising: a receive signal chain; a transmit signal chain; and a switch, duplexer, or circulator coupled to the receive signal chain and to the transmit signal chain.
 11. The RF aperture of claim 10 wherein each signal chain further comprises one or more baluns coupling the switch, duplexer, or circulator to one or more aperture pixels.
 12. The RF aperture of claim 11 wherein: the receive signal chain includes a low noise amplifier; and the transmit signal chain includes a power amplifier.
 13. The RF aperture of claim 11 wherein the one or more signal chains include: row signal chains driving rows of aperture pixels; and column signal chains driving columns of aperture pixels.
 14. The RF aperture of claim 10 wherein the one or more signal chains are each differential signal chains comprising: a differential receive signal chain; a differential transmit signal chain; and a switch, duplexer, or circulator coupled to the receive signal chain and to the transmit signal chain; wherein the switch, duplexer, or circulator is coupled to one or more aperture pixels without an intervening balun.
 15. The RF aperture of claim 14 wherein: the differential receive signal chain includes a low noise amplifier; and the differential transmit signal chain includes a power amplifier.
 16. The RF aperture of claim 14 wherein the one or more differential signal chains include: row differential signal chains driving rows of aperture pixels; and column differential signal chains driving columns of aperture pixels.
 17. The RF aperture of claim 10 wherein the faceted electrically conductive tapered projections are four-sided pyramids with four-fold rotational symmetry.
 18. The RF aperture of claim 17 wherein each faceted electrically conductive tapered projection further includes a square apex facet at which the four sides of the four-sided pyramid meet.
 19. The RF aperture of claim 10 wherein the faceted electrically conductive tapered projections are one of: four-sided pyramids with two-fold rotational symmetry; six-sided hexagonal pyramids with six-fold rotational symmetry; or triangular pyramids with three-fold rotational symmetry. 